Strategic Marketing Questions
by Dera DeRoche-Jolet

Before you start to plan your marketing campaign, you should answer some very important strategic marketing questions. By answering these questions, you’ll have the basis and direction for the campaign as a whole and will be able to create more effective brochures, ads, sales letters and even the company web site.

The answers you come up with will reveal how you can get your prospect's attention and encourage them to respond in a certain way.

Who do you want to reach?
Your target audience will have a bearing on how you set the tone for your marketing strategy. Obviously if you are targeting young married couples with children, your marketing materials will be different than those you would use in a campaign targeting senior citizens. The same goes for income levels or whether you want to reach residential or commercial prospects.

Be very specific and detailed when you describe the characteristics of your ideal prospect. Once you clearly define your ideal prospect you can develop a unique message that will appeal directly to their interests. Prospects are always more likely to respond when they feel you are talking directly to them and addressing their individual needs.

What action do you want to generate?
While the ultimate result you want to achieve might be to increase sales, a marketing campaign might have other short-term goals. For instance, do you want to get inquiries for a certain product (like a carbon monoxide detector) or a new service (such as GPS)? Do you want to set up visits for a security survey, get referrals or develop a list of qualified prospects that you can send future materials to?

Decide in advance what you want prospects to do. It’s always easier to develop an effective promotional campaign when you have a clear understanding of the reaction you are trying to produce.

What is your competitive advantage?
What does your alarm business have that others don’t? What benefits do you offer that others don’t? Why should prospects do business with you instead of with one of your competitors? Do you provide faster results, more personal attention, better support or a longer guarantee? Is price a factor?

If you’re not sure, then add in something to your business you are not already doing. Once you have that competitive advantage, don't let it slip away. Keep checking on what your competition is doing and make any changes necessary to your business to keep ahead of the pack.

How will you get prospects to believe you?
Don't expect prospects to simply believe what you say. You can add credibility to your company by using testimonials from satisfied customers, providing research data supporting your claims or getting endorsements from high profile customers in your community.

How will you get prospects to respond right away?
Most prospects won’t respond the first time they see one of your pieces. Instead, they put off responding – and then forget about you.

Repetition helps but you can attract many prospects to respond by giving them a convincing reason – even better if it’s immediate. For example, give them a special price if they order now, an additional month of free monitoring or even a gift.

The above questions are very similar to those a journalist asks – who, what, when, where and how. With the answers, a journalist can write his story. Once you have your own answers, you’ll be writing your own business story – with some very happy endings.